HARES: Pegmatite and Swingers
THEME: LH3 Christmas Party
VENUE: Pegmatite and Swingers ‘Eagles Nest’ at Kangaroo Ground.
This run was just as far out as last weeks, but this time walking out on to the big rear balcony was breathtaking. It was at least 4m above the ground which then dropped away steeply into a grassy valley with large dams, grazing horses and bushland behind. Further back was the magnificent backdrop of the Yarra Ranges looking towards Badgers Creek and Mt Donna Buang. Cyclone Tracy must have admonished her mob and our RA obviously worked overtime because there was a blue sky dotted with occasional cumulus (subject of debate) clouds and a perfect 24oC with a light breeze. In short, it would have been impossible to order more idyllic conditions for a hash run and Christmas party.
Swingers gave his BOS telling everyone there was a short walk of about 3.5km, a long walk of about 5.5km and the run was about 7.5km. The walks branched off from the run trail and were marked accordingly. Problem was the runners cut the corners where the walks branched off and the walkers later followed the runner’s marks; no one saw the walk marks so all the walkers did the full run trail which was more like 8.5km. As a result circle was delayed until everyone returned and it was held in the mini ‘Stonehenge’ near a lily pond, before the pack adjourned and headed back to the deck for the Christmas party.
WALK REPORT: By Cut Loose Scored 24/25
The walkers all walked the full run trail, the good and the bad. It was a fantastic walk with shiggy, Alpacas, horses – a bit of everything – culminating in the most beautiful drink stop on top of a hill with 360o views.
RUN REPORT: By Prince Scored 25/25
This was an excellent run and it was all off road with tracks along the road reserves to run on. Trail went through parkland in Yirrup Reserve with wildflowers, creek crossings and views. We saw Alpacas, plenty of Australian bush, shiggy and grassland with the drink stop on top of a hill, which was really a knob, with a true 360o panoramic view of the surrounding area. From the drink stop it was all downhill to home.
CHARGES:
- HARES: Pegmatite and Swingers.
- RETURNEES – Pegmatite, Punch, Add On, Behind Bars, and Big Ears.
- Palindromic Runs: Cheesecake on 626, Astro on 525 and Peanuts on 141.
- Prince: After giving out directions to hashers for 4 weeks, he got lost and had to phone for directions.
- NickelB: Started off early from an informal ‘halt’ and found a nasty on back at the bottom of the hill.
- Klingon: Stopped to smell the roses. They did have thorns, but they were blackberries.
- Let Me Look: Inattention during the serious business of the hash circle.
Charges from the Floor:
- No Balls: While looking for the owner of a lost hat before the run, called Old Boar, Wild Boar.
- Old Boar: For not being a WILD Boar.
- No Balls: Could not work out which way the gates on trail swung, so climbed over the top (which begs the question – How many Engineer’s does it take to open a gate?)
- Cod Piece & Lethal: Making Add On sick on the walk.
- No Balls : On the way home from the drink stop, jumped into a black limo to get the jump on the rest.
- Klingon: Leaving a sick Add On with others while he went on the run.
- Cheesecake, Cod Piece and Peanuts: Beautifully attired; thanks to the Salvo’s and their mates!
- Prince: Put his bag of chips on the table and Astro ate them all with a bit of help from Lethal.
- Swingers: Horse manure in the paddocks, which Drag On duly rolled in, so Klingon will have to wash him.
- Behind Bars, No Balls, Lots a Fun, Cut Loose, & Udder Idjit: No hash attire in the circle.
- Behind Bars: Accusing hashers of singing terribly. (Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good charge).
- Astro: Sitting on the ‘Dolmen’ (Ancient stone burial ground).
- NickelB: Being a great grog dispenser.
E&B then got everyone in the mood for the upcoming trivia quiz with some sample questions.
SPECIAL FOOD/PARTY REPORT: Circle was held before the party, so there was no report, but just picture a huge bowl (about 600mm across) full of oysters, another bowl the same size full of prawns, dipping sauces and a large plate full of smoked salmon. Well, that was the entree. Main course followed with spit roasted turkey, pork and lamb cooked on the premises with two huge bowls of spinach salad and Greek salad respectively; with crackling, roast potatoes, sauces, and various other condiments. The food was tasty, juicy and very more’ish and there was plenty for everyone.
Eddy the chef from Guy’s Catering did a fantastic job and was sent home with a traditional LH3 down down.
The deserts came out later with a traditional Christmas pudding from an old English recipe, custard and several pavlova’s all cooked by Pegmatite. What a great effort!
E&B and Cheesecake prepared a hash trivia quiz which was held in four parts between mains and desert. It was interspersed with the LH3 Mug call (penned by Prince and called by Lethal). NickelB provided some light relief with a joke and Lethal and Behind Bars lullabied us with a song. Of course there was also the drawing and presentation of the LH3 door prizes, which seemed to multiply as the tickets were drawn.
It would be fair to say that we had the perfect setting, with perfect weather, a beautiful dinner, traditional style hash entertainment and gracious hosts. Our thanks to Pegmatite and Swingers for making their house available and putting in such a great effort to ensure that both the run/walk and Christmas party were a memorable occasion and such a great success.